The Ukrainian-Russian war conflict has now been discussed in all sports. There has been a distance between the Ukrainian and Russian tennis players. The Washington Open had donated ten thousand dollars to the Elina Svitolina charitable foundation, which supports young, gifted tennis players in Ukraine. Elina Svitolina recently said that the Russian and Belarusian players are not voicing their opinions against their governments.
Mirra Andreeva has been the latest Russian to come under fire. Dayana Yastremska accused her of liking posts on social media that were pro-Russian. The Ukrainian was up against Andreeva in the opening round of the Ladies Open Lausanne. Yastremska said that she had seen Andreeva liking posts related to Vladimir Putin before the match.
So Yastremska should *simply don’t mind* playing *just a kid* who likes among other things popular putin jokes
Esp when Dayana’s sister of the same age spent nights hiding from all the types of missiles Russia used to wipe out her hometown. Oh but sport can’t be mixed yeah right pic.twitter.com/lbOQKFpYpa
— Ukrainian Tennis • BTU (@ukrtennis_eng) July 24, 2023
The 16-year-old has not come out with an official statement regarding the issue. Currently, the Russian and Belarusian players come under the neutrality flag. Yastremska said that most Russian players are pro-Russian even though they publically portray themselves as being neutral. The 23-year-old also took the issue to the WTA as she wanted strict actions against Andreeva.
Dayana Yastremska is not happy with the stand taken by the WTA
Yastremska had taken the Andreeva issue to WTA. She suggested penalties for the players who are indulging in such activities. Yastremska said, “I went to the WTA in Switzerland and told about it. I have not received any reason for their decision. They said, ‘there’s nothing we can do.’ I told them it wasn’t fair.” (via Tennis World USA) The WTA had earlier released a statement which said that the handshake policy is a personal choice.
Yastremska was not happy, as she did not expect this response from WTA. She said that she has yet to discuss the issue with Andreeva. The Ukrainian tennis organization has shared the post on Twitter, which Andreeva liked, saying that sports and politics should be mixed. The post has had almost sixty thousand views so far.
Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska lost 6-0, 6-2 to Russia’s Mirra Andreeva at the Prague Open.
After the match she called on the WTA to sanction her 16-year-old opponent for liking posts in support of Putin.
The WTA ignored her request. pic.twitter.com/H2bXSrwKKf
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) July 29, 2023
The ATP and WTA have not imposed any restrictions on the Russian and Belarusian players. Yastremska also talked about how emotionally draining it is to share a court with Russians. The situation is becoming more complicated day by day. The players face the heat due to the conflict as there is no clear route for the future.
